Deeplinks

In recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have sought access to private data on the cell phones of two journalists. Such incidents are offensive because they threaten the independence of the press and pose specific risks to confidential sources. This government overreach also highlights how weak legal protections at the border for digital devices threatens the privacy of all travelers to and from the U.S., including Americans.

Uber has rolled out a new update to its iPhone App—Version 3.222.4—which removed the option to limit location tracking to “While Using,” a privacy setting in the iOS that provides users control of when their information is shared with the app.

You might not have noticed right away. The November 23 update was described simply as, “This update fixes an issue affecting some riders who weren’t able to request a ride,” with no mention of the sharp change in privacy practices.

A group of investors in AT&T have had it with the phone company’s collaboration with law enforcement through the Hemisphere program, in which the company facilitates police access to trillions of phone records. At the spring shareholder conference, Zevin Asset Management plans to force discussion of contradictions between AT&T’s stated commitment to privacy and civil liberties and the Hemisphere program. One of the chief goals is to demand greater transparency over the highly secretive program.

The Supreme Court issued an important ruling today in the long-running patent battle between Apple and Samsung. The appeal involved some of Apple’s infamous design patents on rounded corners. The Federal Circuit had ruled that Apple was entitled to all of Samsung’s profits from the infringing phones. Samsung appealed, arguing that the law did not require such a steep penalty. As Samsung explained, if the Federal Circuit’s rule were allowed to stand, then a car company sued for infringing a design patent on a cup holder could be liable for the total profits from sales of the car.

Sirius XM Satellite Radio's recent settlement with ex-members of the 60s rock group The Turtles over royalty payments for old recordings has the potential to solidify the dominant position of big music services like Sirius XM, at the expense of new music services, independent and Web-based radio stations, and the listening public. If approved by the court, the settlement would give Sirius XM permission to stream a vast catalogue of music recordings made before 1972 while other music services and radio stations remain at legal risk.

The federal government just got new hacking powers with virtually no debate, including in Congress. But the fight isn’t over.

It’s not too late to debate—or even reverse—the update to federal rules governing search warrants, which now lets investigators use one warrant to search an untold number of computers across the world.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has a hard decision to make: a coalition including the world's top research institutions; organizations supporting blind users on three continents; security firms; blockchain startups; browser vendors and user rights groups have asked it not to hand control over web video to some of the biggest companies in the world. For their part, those multinational companies have asked the W3C to hand them a legal weapon they can use to shut down any use of online video they don't like, even lawful fair use.

Is the W3C in the business of protecting the open web and its users, or is it an arms-dealer supplying multinational companies with the materiel they need to rule the web? We're about to find out.